Rosemary Foccacia

Who needs therapy when you can get pummel your worries away with some sticky, oily focaccia dough instead? Plus, you get to eat it afterwards!

Ingredients:

500g strong white bread flour

400ml lukewarm water

2 sachets easy fast-acting yeast

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt (I used Malden Salt Flakes)

Fresh rosemary

Add the flour, yeast and two heaped teaspoons of salt to a large bowl, and mix. Pour in most of the water and three teaspoons of olive oil, and continue to mix until the dough begins to bind. Add the rest of the water and begin to knead the dough in the bowl, taking care to stretch the dough and tuck it under itself before kneading again.

Spread some oil on a work surface and place the sticky ball of dough on top. Continue to knead for a further five minutes, adding more oil when necessary. Return to the bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to rise somewhere warm until it has doubled in size (around an hour).

After it has risen, transfer the dough to a baking parchment-lined rectangular baking tin and push it into all the corners until it lies flat. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for another hour.

Preheat the oven to 225C. Drizzle oil over the loaf, poke holes in lines with the end of a wooden spoon, and sprinkle rosemary on top. Cook for around 20 minutes until golden. Cool on a wire rack for half an hour before serving with oil, balsamic vinegar and dukkah if you’re feeling fancy.